I had a mini argument with a mate on the weekend( a non BMW beleiver), he said that when my 320D is out a warranty i will feel it in the hip pocket to the tune of up to $3000 a service.
Are there any forumers out there with there cars out of the warranty stage be able to advise on the costs of servicing and maintenance??

haha i don't think thats right Scott unless you have a real mechanical problem etc. The servicing fee on avarage from what i have heard from my mate(320 final 5months of warranty) is around 500-600 dollars. It all varies on what needs to be changed or if there is anything wrong with crucial components. Your mate was just stirring you

No way !!!! If it's just a service, it won't cost you dramaticly more than any other car. BMW dealership charge a premium price for servicing compared to a Toyota dealersip but you already knew that.

I have a 5 series out of warrenty and I take it to BMTS at Brendale for servicing. He knows his BMW's and uses the right oils and the parts are all OEM but don't come in a BMW box. Example: Brake pads and rotors he uses ATE and Bosch fuel filteres. I've been going to him for years and has saved me a heap of money. I remember when I had an E30 and Brisbane BMW said I needed a new brake booster at $800 fitted. They had the car for the day and diagnosed the problem. I asked Peter @ BMTS to quote the job and after explaining what the car was doing over the phone, he told me to bring it in the next day and it was a wile you wait repair. Cost me $15.

My previous BMW was an X5 4.4. Never had any issues with it other than regular services. Depending on which service it was due for - cost was between $600 and $1200 (with brake pads). I had it 4 years with 110,000 kms on the clock. Given service intervals were every 25,000k's, it cost me about $3500 over those four years or $875 per annum. Compare that to my Nissan Patrol Turbo Diesel which I had prior to that, each service was around $400 average but that needed to be done every 5,000k's - the comparison cost for the same number of k's would be $8800 or approx $2200 per annum assuming the same mileage.

Now I know from experience if something breaks that shouldn't like the coils fail or the air con packs it in (as has happened in my wifes e46) the repair costs can seem horrendous but you have to balance that with the long service intervals and relatively low annual cost of these.

BMW is still the best made car I've owned. Thats why I purchased a new one and why we currently own two of them.

my brothers audi rs4 is due for a major 120k km service, plus a few extras. it will be about $3k. this is from an independent as well, one of the best independents as well. its not cheap maintaining a car with supercar specs thats for sure

haha i don't think thats right Scott unless you have a real mechanical problem etc. The servicing fee on avarage from what i have heard from my mate(320 final 5months of warranty) is around 500-600 dollars. It all varies on what needs to be changed or if there is anything wrong with crucial components. Your mate was just stirring you

my brothers audi rs4 is due for a major 120k km service, plus a few extras. it will be about $3k. this is from an independent as well, one of the best independents as well. its not cheap maintaining a car with supercar specs thats for sure

wow, supercar specs? i never realised rs4's were on par with enzo's and mc12's...

no i don't... to me supercars will always be ferrari/lambo/porsche etc, not audi... that's just me though, and my opinion

And that makes your opinion more valuable than his right What with Lambo owned by Audi and all.

You could concievably expect the cost to run in the thousands for a major service with replacement parts. I've had servicing on the AMG run well over $3k but I wouldn't imagine it would be as expensive with a lower spec'ed Merc, same goes for the BMW gear. Much more volume= lower associated costs.

And that makes your opinion more valuable than his right What with Lambo owned by Audi and all.

You could concievably expect the cost to run in the thousands for a major service with replacement parts. I've had servicing on the AMG run well over $3k but I wouldn't imagine it would be as expensive with a lower spec'ed Merc, same goes for the BMW gear. Much more volume= lower associated costs.

no, and it doesn't bother me that it doesn't, simply staing my opinion, and you yours

And that makes your opinion more valuable than his right What with Lambo owned by Audi and all.

You could concievably expect the cost to run in the thousands for a major service with replacement parts. I've had servicing on the AMG run well over $3k but I wouldn't imagine it would be as expensive with a lower spec'ed Merc, same goes for the BMW gear. Much more volume= lower associated costs.

spot on, Economics101; supply & demand, the more parts required to be made, the cheaper they get.

perhaps i should be more specific, supercar performance. anytime ur running mid 4sec 0-100, then the engine costs a little bit to maintain over time.

i understand where ur coming from, the supercars and exotics have always been lambos, ferraris, porsche, mclaren, etc. but with the r8 getting amazing review by the great jeremy clarkson, then its a little narrow minded to discount audis high performance cars (and the amg brand, and even the m brand) as not being in the supercar category, if only in terms of performance.

also, imo, i feel that porsche isnt as emotionally stirring as a ferrari or a lambo, when it comes to "supercar-ness"